With Cerrone, you have a someone who genuinely loves to scrap, so putting him against a brawler like Mike Perry should yield an explosive event for the ages. Before they lay hands on each other, here are some numbers that have made Cerrone one of the most entertaining and hardworking fighters in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
20: Years old when he started training kickboxing. Cerrone entered competitions, and after winning a few fights, he decided to push his training further by getting into MMA. He first trained with a team called Freedom Fighters before joining Greg Jackson’s school.
1: Professional boxing fight. In 2003, he fought a guy named Geoffrey Spruiell and lost by TKO in round 2.
29: Professional kickboxing fights. He tallied 28 victories and one draw.
4: Titles captured as a kickboxer. He won the S-1 Muay Thai US lightweight tournament championship, Kickdown Classic amateur welterweight championship, ISKA amateur Colorado State middleweight Oriental championship and Dominion Warrior Muay Thai world lightweight championship.
1: Round needed to defeat future UFC fighter Nate Mohr at Ring of Fire 21: Full Blast. The end came at 1:42 when Cerrone submitted his opponent via triangle choke.
7: Straight victories to start his career and impress World Extreme Cagefighting officials enough for him to get signed. Among the fighters he beat were future UFC signees Ryan Roberts and Anthony Njokuani.
2: Fights into his WEC career and he was given a chance to engage in a title eliminator with Rob McCullough. He defeated the more experienced McCullough via unanimous decision at WEC 36.
2: Fights with Jamie Varner. Their first fight was for the WEC lightweight championship, and Cerrone lost by split decision. It ended prematurely when Cerrone landed an illegal knee and Varner was unable to recover. In their rematch, “Cowboy” made sure it was more decisive as he cruised his way to a unanimous decision victory.
1: Round given to Benson Henderson in their battle for the WEC lightweight strap. Cerrone finally got his shot at the title but couldn’t capitalize, as Henderson choked him out 1:57 into the match.
3: Fights with Henderson. They fought twice in WEC, and Henderson took both. Their third fight happened in the UFC and that time, Cerrone won by unanimous decision.
4: Fight of the Night honors in the WEC. He engaged in landmark scuffles with Rob McCullough, Benson Henderson, Ed Ratcliff and Jamie Varner twice.
20: Wins in the UFC, in 28 tries, good enough to put him in a three-way tie for most in history of the promotion, with a chance to move into sole possession of the record with a win this weekend. He has defeated high-level opponents such as Charles Oliveira, Dennis Siver, Jeremy Stephens, KJ Noons, Edson Barboza, Jim Miller and Benson Henderson.
3: Fight of the Night honors in the UFC. He received the FOTN bonus for his memorable scraps with Paul Kelly, Nate Diaz and Melvin Guillard.